Longtime Channel 2 Action News anchor Monica Pearson invited 1,000 viewers Saturday to WSB-TV’s studios in Midtown for a meet-and-greet as she prepares to wind down her career next month after 37 years at the station.
The viewers had to register for the visit, which included a tour of the newsroom and studios, a chance meet Channel 2 anchors, reporters and other WSB-TV personalities and, at the end, the opportunity to chat and take photos with Pearson. Her husband, John Pearson, was also at the station.
"It's nice to meet in person the people who watch us daily and to be able to say ‘thank you' one-on-one," Pearson said.
The 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. anchor's last day will be July 25.
"Thirty-seven years is a long time to have gone by so quickly,” Pearson said. “I am thankful for this job every day and for the supreme good fortune to have been allowed to pursue my life's calling in such an honorable place as Channel 2. It's my home away from home and this team of journalists is my family. Believe me when I say, I'm deeply honored to have served the viewers and this community, in which we all make our home."
In 1975, Pearson became the first black and first woman to anchor a 6 p.m. newscast in Atlanta. At the time she was known as Monica Kaufman.
Now Pearson is the longest-running anchor in the Atlanta market, working through seven presidencies, six Georgia governors and a near doubling of population growth in the state. She’s won 29 Emmy awards along the way.
Pearson has been accepted into the University of Georgia’s graduate telecommunications program and will become a student in the fall.
